Phosphorous may be a happy little element in tiny quantities, but too much is deadly.

Dr. Paul Gray of Florida Audubon will explore the evils of excessive phosphorous in our estuaries at the April meeting of the Rivers Coalition. We're saving a seat for you.

Concerned river advocates will gather for the public meeting at 11 a.m. April 30 at Stuart City Hall. Free and easy parking and even coffee and donuts await you.

Tons of new phosphorous is spread on sugar farms every year even as we try to treat the polluted waters and lands we already face. The pending purchase of U.S. Sugar property would eliminate much of the phosphorus dumping, which is in itself a good reason to pursue the sugar buy.

For the good of the St. Lucie estuary, of course, the sugar purchase could help send excess water south from Lake Okeechobee instead of gushing in to the coasts in wet years.

So let's defuse The Phosphorous Bomb as soon as possible, for the sake of our estuary and citizens.

We hope to see you April 30.

We're expecting to have new and beautiful T-shirts available at the April 30 meeting. The shirts feature a gorgeous painting of the St. Lucie estuary by local artist Mark Johnson, who did the painting for the Rivers Coalition as a donation for a cause he advocates. He teamed up with graphics artist Drew Wickstrom to design the shirt.

Using the slogan "Save My River," the shirts will send our message everywhere. They will be priced at $18 (but why not make it a donation of $20?).

Maybe six shirts for $100 will appeal to you and yours?

We also plan to have some "ladies cuts" in the mix.

Thursday April 30, 2009
11am to 12:30pm at:
City of Stuart Commission Chambers
121 SW Flagler Ave, Stuart, Fl 34994

Business Matters
*  Chairman's Comments - Leon Abood
*  T-Shirts - Karl Wickstrom
*  Special Presentation - Paul Gray
    "The Phosphorous Bomb" 
*  Legal Update - Karl Wickstrom
*  Fundraising - Karl Wickstrom
*  WRAC - Ted Guy/Ed Fielding

Coalition Committee Reports
*  Water Quality - Mark Perry
*  Local Issues - Mark Perry/Ed Fielding
*  State/Federal Issues - Kevin Henderson/Paul Gray
*  IRL/CERP - Kevin Henderson/Paul Gray
*  Martin County Updates - Paul Millar